Continous development makes us future-ready

Stefano De Vitti has been working as a Business Excellence Manager at Epta Deutschland for about a year. In the interview, he explains what his job title entails, how the company has changed since then, and the benefits that customers enjoy as a result of his work.

Kältenews: What are your main tasks as a Business Excellence Manager at Epta Germany?

Stefano De Vitti: My task is to take a holistic view of the company and thereby continuously develop, refine, and improve our quality management. My work is based on the model of the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), an important tool for building and advancing a comprehensive quality management system. It considers the three factors of people, processes, and results, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and improvement potentials of a company from these. We involve employees in all processes because only in this way can consistently excellent results be achieved.

Why is business excellence important for a company? With the business excellence model, you gain an overall view of the company. Here, corporate culture, transformation, flexibility, and adaptability concerning the future orientation of an organization play a crucial role. At the same time, it is also about structuring and measuring the quality of the company. In this way, work processes can be improved in the short and long term, as well as driving performance and proactively managing changes. The idea of business excellence is focused on continuous change and improvement, making companies future-proof.

What experiences and expertise can you bring from previous jobs into your current role?

In my previous role as a Quality Manager at an automotive supplier, I was responsible for approximately 150 employees in a production plant. The knowledge I gained there in quality, project, and process management is very applicable to my current role. I discovered my passion for quality during my training as a technical business administrator. Although the topic is very theoretical, I enjoy making companies more efficient by changing processes and workflows. Therefore, further training as a quality manager was a logical step for me.

You have been with Epta for about a year: How has the company changed in terms of quality since then?

Quality work at Epta Germany has evolved into a solution-oriented approach. This can be illustrated by the following example: A customer comes to us with a complaint. Then we see this as a learning opportunity: What can we learn from the complaint? How do we solve the problem for the customer and how can we do better in the future? So, it's about resolving complaints to the satisfaction of the customers. This also applies to other situations. We want to introduce a lessons learned process to drive improvements forward.

What would you consider your greatest success?

The greatest success is the performance of the entire team, and in my opinion, it lies in the positive development that Epta has undergone in the past year. The employees, as well as the management team, are embracing the new process-oriented approach well and actively addressing leadership, personnel, people, processes, quality, and customer satisfaction issues.

What do customers get from your work?

By minimizing issues and optimizing processes within the company, our customers also benefit. We aim to provide them with more effective and targeted responses and to offer a contact person who is always available and resolves their issues. We want to offer our customers short-term, medium-term, and long-term solutions, allowing them to focus on their core business of selling products without interruptions.

Which goals have you set for yourself?

My goal is to utilize the ISO 9001 certified management system at Epta even more effectively, to reflect on it myself, and to continuously improve it, so that we are stably positioned for the future. This also includes structuring, planning, and proactively shaping processes more clearly. My team and I aim to methodically and practically support all areas of the company in this endeavor.